Cable Panel Approves $870 Caption Fix

Cable Advisory Committee · Meeting of August 26, 2026

Groton's Cable Advisory Committee approved $870 for new signal converters after finding Charter Spectrum equipment was stripping closed captions from its programming. Program Director Ashley Doucette told members "it's the actual converter itself that's stripping the captions out," noting captions work fine on Verizon but disappear for Charter subscribers. The committee voted unanimously, 4-0, to buy two Decimator 2 converters at $435 each, funded through equipment grant money.

Members also capped Groton Fest giveaway pen spending at $300, down from a $1,300 reorder quote for the committee's prior pen design, and approved $115 for a festival vendor booth. A separate unanimous vote added $100, for a total of $768, to cover a price increase on a captioning laptop. Member Eric Fischer argued "anything we can do to make people aware of our channel is something we should expend," while member Neil Colicchio questioned the marketing value of festival giveaways now that the channel operates as a town entity.

In the full story:

• Minutes and Roll Call
• Bills and Purchases Update
• General Studio Update and Archive Push
• 2026 Summer Internship Recap
• Groton Fest 2026 Planning
• Charter Spectrum Franchise Renewal
• Closed Captioning and Equipment Purchases
• Audio Description and Donation Platform
• Viewership and Outreach
• MacBook Purchase for Captioning
• Charter Contract Law and Grant Updates
• Next Meeting
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,003 words

Source: the Cable Advisory Committee meeting of August 26, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.